Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Sugg on 15 May (HL Deb, col 587), how many staff are working on the task and finish group set up to improve acces to wheelchair space on buses; and how much time each member of staff has spent working on the group.

The Task and Finish Group on the Use of Wheelchair Spaces on Buses was established to advise Ministers on the implications of the Supreme Court judgment on First Group PLC vs Paulley and to recommend actions to support access to the wheelchair space. It reported to Ministers in September 2017.

In the Department for Transport around 25 officials work on policy relating to buses, including Government’s response to the Task and Finish Group.

We do not hold records on the time officials allocate to individual projects, and so it is not possible to comment on this.

We are committed to engaging further with affected stakeholders before bringing forward a package of measures informed by the advice received.